Bus Riders Union of Austin, Texas | El Sindicato de Pasajeros

We finally have some ridership numbers on the commuter rail, and it's a bit unsettling for bus riders who don't plan to ride it on up to Leander. In the latest American-Statesman piece, we see that the rail project is running over cost and past promised deadlines. OK, that's not news to anyone. What we learn is that the six cars that Capital Metro ordered from Switzerland have a total carrying capacity of 2-3,000 per day.

Looking at Capital Metro's 2007 Report to the Community, we can compare this to other riders: 

Dividing the total ridership for 2007 by 365 days, we see 91,512 boardings per day. (BRU-ATX side note: if you subtract UT Shuttle and STS boardings from total ridership, we see 75,526 boardings per day, which is still less than the average weekday boardings 19 years ago during the Free Fare Period....check the Quarterly Reports for stats). Regardless, if we were to assume that the capacity of the trains will be 3,000 boardings per day when it opens, those boardings would comprise a mere 3.2% of the transit system's boardings. The rest of the system will stand at 96.8%.

So, what's the big deal? The problem here is the matter of equity. If rail only took 3.2% of the overall budget, then there wouldn't be a problem. That would be equitable. However, Capital Metro admits to rail project already eating up $100 million. I'd actually argue it's twice that since there are lots of incidentals lumped into other parts of the budget: the money they've lost on freight rail that they approved since the freight cars and commuter rails are running on the same line, as well as everything else from ITS to the new buses established to serve the rail stations. We've also been seeing a reduction in services in all other parts of the system. Free 'Dillos have been taken off the East and South Sides, STS initially had major cuts proposed before public outcry, and even main bus routes like the numbers 4 and 5 are seeing increased headways. On top of that, we're seeing 35 foot buses running instead of 40 foot buses, which is leading to more crowded, standing room only riding. But have no fear rail riders, Capital Metro is ready to throw down another $60 million for a dozen new rail cars to expand capacity! Or, 30 percent of one year's budget (10 times that of fare revenue....)

Bottom line: the rail is currently gobbling up funds for the bus system. It's hard to nail down a specific percentage that rail is taking each year from buses, but rest assured taking up a disproportionate amount of funds. When we start talking about the types of riders boarding the bus versus the rail, it's even more obnoxious since bus riders are more often working poor than not (some 78.1% of riders make less than $30,000 per year, according to Capital Metro), and it's on their backs that the new rail line will be running.